The War of Siblings
by Karn Relique
Summary: When Trixie tricks Luna into thinking Celestia is a tyrant, civil war breaks out in Equestria. Who will win..the Solar Empire, or the New Lunar Republic?
1. Prologue

Darak sighed as he put on his helmet. He shook his head slightly to settle the helm on his head better.  
"Maybe you should just grow a unicorn horn so you could magic your armor on." His partner snickered across the room.  
"Oh, shut it, Lightheart. We can't all have magic to help ourselves." Darak struggled to get his armor situated around his wings, until Lightheart sighed audibly. His horn glowed white, and the armor readjusted itself.  
"There, better?" Lightheart asked. Darak nodded, and together, the pair went out on their usual evening patrol.

They walked through the dark streets of Canterlot, both of them reveling in the silence of the night. They patrolled like this every night, whether they were assigned to do it or not. They enjoyed each other's company. That's when they came across the graffiti..

"Oh, for Celestia's sake..When will this pranksters knock it off?" Lightheart's horn glows and starts to wipe off the graffiti.  
"Why bother?" asked Darak, "It'll just be back again tomorrow.."  
Lightheart growled slightly.  
"If I ever catch them, I'll skin them alive..showing disrespect to our princess like that.." He finishes cleaning off the graffiti, and the two continue on their way, with Darak shaking his head in amusement. Then, when they turned a corner, they saw it.  
An alleyway covered in blue and purple graffiti.  
"_FOR THE NEW LUNAR REPUBLIC!"  
"LONG LIVE LUNA!"  
"DOWN WITH CELESTIA THE TYRANT!"_

Lightheart emitted a deep growl as he saw the graffiti, and began shaking with anger.. Darak looked at him worriedly.  
"Lightheart, calm down..it's just some graffiti." He said, but Lightheart shouted him down.  
"IT IS NOT "JUST SOME GRAFFITI"! It is disrespectful to our Princess Celestia! These..these.." He searched for the right word to use, "these REBELS just can't be happy with what they have, can they!" Lightheart stomped a hoofe down, and was shaking so hard Darak was surprised he could speak straight. He blinked bewilderedly.  
"Just calm down, Lightheart. We'll get an audience with the princess tomorrow.. Will that make you feel better?" Lightheart nodded, still huffing in anger.

End Prologue


	2. Chapter 1

Twilight Sparkle was lying in her bed, curled up with a good book, when Spike came running up to her.

"Twilight!" He said, before burping green flames. A rolled up letter fell to the floor. A purple aura surrounded it and unfurled it, as Twilight began to read the letter.  
"Its from Princess Luna..she wants to speak with me? I wonder why?" She tilted her head in thought. "I wonder if this is about Trixie.."  
"Why would it be about Trixie?" Spike asked. Twilight grimaced as she remembered that she forgot to tell him.

"Trixie's been jailed in Canterlot..apparently she got a bunch of ponies hurt and a few were even killed.." Twilight's voice dropped, still wondering how even Trixie could stoop so low as to hurt people. Spike gasped.

"What? How did that happen?" He asked in worry.

"Well..apparently she captured a manticore, and planned to use it in her show..it got loose and attacked the crowd before the soldiers could stop it. Trixie was arrested for harboring a dangerous creature shortly after.." Twilight said, still lost in thought. Spike looked at her worriedly.

"I know that look, Twilight. Its not your fault, you couldn't have done anything to stop it." He said, but Twilight interrupted before he could go on any further.

"But it is my fault, Spike. If only I hadn't humiliated her, maybe she wouldn't have tried such a dangerous stunt.." She said as tears welled up in her eyes. Before Spike could say anything, Twilight got up and trotted outside, announcing that she was going for a walk..

~Canterlot Dungeons~

Trixie paced the dungeon floor, feeling naked without her magnificent cape. She banged on the bars of the cell until a guard walked over.  
"What is it, prisoner?" The guard growled. Trixie gave him her most dazzling smile.  
"I was wondering if I could get another blanket. The nights have been getting rather cold, lately.." The guard smirked and walked away without answering. Trixie hung her head, muttering to herself.  
"…Fools…I'll get out of here..I WILL escape this prison.." Once again, she tried to spark her horn to unlock the cell, but the glow around it sputtered and died. The bars made of magicite could be thanked for that.  
"…Soon…" She crawled back onto her bed and laid down, staring out at the evening sky. As night fell, Princess Luna descended to the castle as she always did. An idea struck Trixie's mind, and she grinned dangerously. She called out to the guard once again.

~Ponyville~

Twilight sat on a hill, watching the sun set. Normally Spike would have come with her, but she had asked that he stay home and clean up the library. In truth she wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She sighed and pawed at the ground.  
_What am I going to do? She wants me to judge Trixie..Even with the horrible things she's done, how could I do that? Her life is in my hands…why would the princess trust me with such a task? _She looked up to the sky, with tears streaming down her face, when she heard someone walking up to her. She wiped her eyes and looked over to see Rarity, who looked at her with concern as she saw Twilight's reddened eyes and tears.  
"Twilight, what's wrong?" Rarity asked. Twilight smiled weakly at her and wiped away at the tears again.  
"N-nothing's wrong. Why are you out here so late?" She asked, trying to change the subject. Rarity noted it, but thankfully followed her lead.  
"I fancied a book from the library, only to run into Spike who told me you had left. He said something about a letter..Do you want to talk about it?" Rarity continued to look at her concerned, while Twilight shook her head.  
"No, no, its nothing important." She smiled weakly again. Rarity shook her head, and sat down next to Twilight, who began to cry again.  
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what's wro-." Rarity interrupted her with a hug. Twilight's tears flowed freely now and she returned the hug, hanging onto Rarity as if her life depended on it. In between sobs, she explained to Rarity her dilmna. Rarity remained silent throughout, supporting her friend emotionally.  
Twilight's tears ceased and she sat back and looked up at the rising moon.  
"…I'll do it.." Rarity smiled encouragingly at her friend, and together, they walked back into Ponyville.

End Chapter 1


	3. Chapter 2

Every time Twilight went to the dungeons of Canterlot (not that she did so often), she couldn't help a feeling of oppression creep up on her. She nodded to the guard, who unlocked the gate and let her in to see the only prisoner in the dungeons..  
"Twilight Sparkle." Trixie said, "How /lovely/ to see you again." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and anger. Twilight grimaced, then looked down.  
"Trixie..how could you?" She pleaded, hoping Trixie had a good answer. Trixie scoffed.  
"It was an accident, anypony could see that." Twilight just looked at her, until she cracked. "Okay, okay..I wanted to spice up my show a bit. Since you /humiliated/ me, I haven't been able to get that many bits from shows. I can barely afford to feed myself these days, and its all your fault." Trixie glared at her. "Its not like I can just master some other form of work. I've tried working at carnivals, but nopony will hire me. I'm lucky to get one or two ponies to show up to my shows these days. Do you know what its like to go hungry for days on end, Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight started to answer, but Trixie sneered at her. "No. No you don't. You're the princess' precious protégé, and what I am compared to that? When one of your status insults me in that caliber, how could I possibly make money any longer?" Trixie snarled at her.  
Twilight stared at her with her mouth gaping open, then she closed it and gulped.  
"Well..I just came by to say that I'll be the one judging you during your trial..I promise that I'll judge you fairly.." Twilight turned and started to walk away, when Trixie called out to her.  
"Don't bother. I know you well enough to know that you'll sentence me to Tartarus." She snickered, "Don't let it weigh too heavily on your conscience, Twilight Sparkle." She sneered.  
Twilight was speechless. She just nodded and walked away. Her next visitors came in, and she smirked and leaned close to the bars to whisper the instructions in their ears.

Twilight silently went back to her room in the castle and laid on her bed.  
_That could have gone better…I wish there was some way I could apologize to her..maybe I can let her go easy with a light charge..instead of the charges of assault and murder.. _She thought to herself. Uneasily, she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep.

Soothsayer sighed as she locked up the store.  
_Such a long day…_ She thought to herself. She turned and began to walk home. Soothsayer had inherited the store from her parents, a small boutique that sold hats. She didn't particularly enjoy the work, but it was a living. She was walking down the street when she realized she was lost.  
_Oh, not again.._ She had a habit of losing herself in her thoughts, so she got lost a lot. She looked around when she heard something behind her. She turned around and screamed, and the knife descended.

~Canterlot Dungeons~  
"Oh, Princess, your wings look /fabulous/ this evening!" Trixie had on her best smile, but inside she was gloating at her success. Luna shuffled her hooves nervously.  
"We thank you, Prisoner. We are curious as to why you have called us here." Luna wasn't comfortable in this dark place. She felt a serious oppression here that she thought impossible of her sister.  
"Well…its about your sister..Not that she's not a fantastic princess, but..don't you think that even now, you're still being overshadowed by her?" Trixie hid a smirk as Luna looked at her with surprise.  
"We..Celestia is not doing it on purpose, she told us. She said that it would take awhile for Equestria to get used to our return…" Luna was stuttering now. Trixie almost openly smirked..the seeds of doubt were planted.  
"No, of course not! I would never even /think/ of implying that Celestia was keeping you in the dark on purpose! Why, I'm sure she's consulted you on every ruling she's made since your return!" Trixie smiled warmly. The look on Luna's face told everything Trixie needed to know.  
"O-of course she has! Both my sister and I rule this country together! …Right?" Luna looked highly doubtful.  
"Of course, my princess." Trixie smiled again. "I'm sorry for taking up your time, but we never had a chance to talk..and I always admired you for your skill in magic…" Luna nodded and walked off, looking lost in thought.

End Chapter 2


End file.
